Forget Me Not
by Lobsters forever
Summary: Post Film. Cobb develops a tendency to forget certain moments with Ariadne. All he knows is, its dangerous to be feeling anything for her other than professionalism. But tendancies too, can alter. Cobb/Ariadne One shot. Please Review.


_Authors Note:_

_I was sitting on a bus earlier today when this idea came to why. _

_I haven't the slightest clue as to why. But I felt compelled to write it. _

_Please Review. Thank you._

**Forget Me Not**

1.

It had become eighty-five days since the successful and almost impossible Inception.

Dom Cobb spends almost every waking hour with his beautiful blond children but when the hours of the night strike, he cannot help himself but jump upon the dream-sharing horse once again. His body misses it and his mind has become accustomed to the power of improbable building.

He still works with the team, as they decided to stay in LA for the rest of the summer holidays. This fact did not bother Cobb. He respected every single person on the team but when it came to dream building, he found himself only relaying on one specific group members words of wisdom.

One day, she asks him "Take a look at this for me?" And he moves his feet, standing up from the lawn chair and walking over towards the blue prints of the next extraction job.

He stares at the gigantic maze, a smirk on his face as his mind wanders of possible obstacles for their next Mark. But there is not one that bevels before him. "It's great." He smiles simply, his hand picking up the short pencil within his fingers before producing a check mark on the side of the drawing.

She breathes in softly, her eyes burning from the amount of hours she put in for this job. He notices, his head tilting slightly towards the side as he states simply "Maybe you should take a break."

"I'm alright." She shrugs, her hand resting on the brim of the desk as she continues, "I need to finish up the Beach print first. Then I'll rest."

He chuckles at that, leaning over the desk swiftly before reminiscing, "You remind me of someone."

"Really?" Her eyebrows perk upward. "Who?"

He bites down onto his bottom lip, admitting "Me." He places the pencil down onto the desk, looking down at her as he continues, "I used to have that will-power. That insane and intense desire for knowledge." He pauses for a second, his hand falling towards her clothed shoulder as he speaks firmly "Take a break. I'll finish up." She nods in appreciance, her feet scattering towards the lawn chair that he was recently sitting at.

He grinned for one second flat before the happy plea vanished off of his features. He had watched her walk away from him. It had been ages since he had watched a woman do _anything_. Dom shook his head at the thought. No, it just might be his mind playing tricks on him. Perhaps, he too, was tired.

2.

It has become common knowledge that Ariadne visits Cobb and his children every Friday night. She is pleased to see how happy he is with them and he is pleased to see her children's eyes light up every time she walks into the room.

It has also become common knowledge that they eat dinner together, play a board game and then watch a film together. But on this one particular evening, the two young children's eyelids begged to shut much earlier than usual. And so as Cobb put them to bed, Ariadne placed a film into the DVD player that did not consist of talking animals or fairytales.

"Ready?" He asked her, fiddling with the already popped buttered popcorn that shifted within the bowl as he walked towards the living room sofa.

She nodded at him, holding the remote control within her grasp as she spoke "Now, don't moan and groan-" she waited for him to sit down beside her before she continued "But we're watching 'Inglorious Basterds'."

Dom held in a deep groan as he rolled his eyes "Again?"

"Yes, Mr. Pitt incepted the idea into my mind." She responded, laughing as she clicked play on the remote control.

Dom snickered at her gag and passed the popcorn bowl, while asking, "What is with your obsession with him?"

"I just so happen to like the whole blue eyed, blond hair thing-" she explained, turning towards the screen as she skipped through the main credits. Dom smiled at that, realizing that he too had those features.

Half way through the movie, Ariadne crunches from the gore and Cobb finally notices that his arm is also half way around her petite frame. He removes it rapidly, reminding himself to forget that ever such a thing occurred.

3.

Another week passes by and Dom Cobb hates the fact that he must leave his children for a few days. But the extraction is steady and easy. It was simply too good to pass up.

He sets foot into the hotel lobby, searching for his teammates and for Mr. Saito who had apparently already arranged there logging conditions in the great capital city of the US. He holds his suitcase behind him, dragging it upon its wheels as he approaches Arthur standing near the front desk with Ariadne.

"No, seriously-" Arthur says to Ariadne, pointing to her newly coiffed hair due of long and loose curls. "It looks great." He says to her and Cobb can almost see her blush.

He clears his throat, interrupting the conversation as he places his locator number upon the front desk, handing it to the desk clerk. The clerk types something into his computer, the familiar voice of Mr. Eames saying to him, a hand gripping on his shoulders "Looks like we're roomies, Cobb."

Dom nods once, turning back towards the clerk to pick up a spare hotel room key. "Has Saito checked in yet?"

He turns to his point man that replies in a blatant tenor "He's already in his suite. 1801. He said to meet us in a half hour at the hotel restaurant."

Ariadne looks down at her track pants, readjusting her purse over her shoulder as she comments "I better change then." She walks away, her hand presenting a room key from her jacket pocket "I look like a complete mess."

Arthur scoffed, "You look amazing."

She could not help but roll her eyes "I'll see you in the room, Arthur."

"Looking forward to it." He answers her, a sneer upon his mouth.

Cobb's eyes couldn't help themselves but widen. As Arthur begins to walk towards the elevators, Dom stops him, grabbing onto the leather jacket his point man was sporting. "You two are sharing a room?"

Arthur nods at the question, looking slightly baffled as he states "Yeah. Saito thought that we should pretend to be a couple staying together so that we don't look suspicious."

"Oh." Dom says, catching a gulp rising from within his throat.

"That's alright with you, isn't it?" Arthur asks, his dark eyes focused upon his friends.

Cobb nods, awfully quickly, speaking in just the same manner "Of course it is, Arthur. Just-" he stops, swallowing his slight envy as he says, "Don't do anything stupid."

"Okay, _dad_." Arthur laughs off, walking away to meet Ariadne at the elevators. He follows slowly, deciding that it would be best if he took the next one. He needed to shake away the conception that he had been, even for a second, jealous of Arthur because of another woman other than Mal.

4.

"And the Sparrow said 'in order to fly, you must believe that you have wings.'" She smiled, James and Phillipa staring up at Ariadne with their blue eyes. She closed the picture book, her mouth curling as she spoke "Okay, you two. Off to bed."

Dom Cobb watched from the doorway; his presence, apparently, had not been noticed.

Ariadne gently slid off the bed, pulling the covers on the young girl with long, yellow pigtails. She had large and heavy irises as she whispered a soft "good night" to her reader.

Ariadne moved her feet over towards James, pulling the covers over him as she whispered "Okay, sweetie. You have to go to bed." She smiled and kissed him upon the top of his forehead. Dom smiled sheepishly as he observed the scene before him.

"I don't wanna." He pouted, crossing his arms across his chest.

Ariadne giggled, rubbing her fingers across his small skull, messaging it gently as she spoke "You have to."

"Why?"

She raised her eyebrows, a smile beaming on her face as she whispered, "Because when you wake up, it will be Saturday and you know what Saturday is, don't you?" She asked grinning widely.

"Pancake day!" He clapped happily.

She chuckled and Dom held in his laugh with a hand covering his mouth. "That's right." She pulled the covers over him, whispering "Good night, James."

She almost turned but the little boy's words stopped her "Good night, mommy." She turned back to him, her eyes focused on the shut eyelids of the young man. She was shocked and Dom Cobb was as well.

He turned on his heel, walking out of the hallway, trying to replace the last thirty seconds of life with something less haunting.

5.

"That is so not fair!" She argues, holding her card hand close to her chest as she observed Eames raise the stakes to almost double the pot.

"Are you in, darling?" He asks, peering around the crowded table of faces including Saito, Yusef, Arthur, Ariadne and Cobb. Out of the members sitting at the table, only he, Cobb and Ariadne were left with cards still in their hands.

Ariadne thought for a second before saying "All in." She pushed her poker chips out, her heart immediately racing as Eames flopped and Cobb checked.

"Woah-" Arthur's eyes widened "Cobb has finally awakened from his slumber."

Dom glared at him for a moment, his teeth grinding against themselves as he turned back to Ariadne and said, "Okay, what do you have?"

He had three of the same; three aces. A solid hand.

She placed her cards out, a hopeful look on her face as she revealed two kings and two queens.

His eyes grew large. He had beaten her by quite a lot.

"Oh no-" she muttered, her eyes clouding as she spoke "I don't like that look on your face." Cobb knew that she needed this money to be able to finish her schooling, here, in LA, like they had decided a few weeks ago.

He smirked, sighing deeply "Well, you should." He paused, throwing his cards onto the table as he said in a low tenor, lying "You beat me."

She screamed from the joy of it all and she picked up her poker chips, one by one, just to relish in the glory of it all.

Dom sat there, a smile on his face as he observed hers. He inhaled deeply, moments later, deciding that it was better for his children for her not to leave. Yes, _only_ for his children, he decided, trying to forget how happy she still was.

6.

Dom Cobb is upset at the fact that he once again has to leave his children to their grandparents aid for another job. This one is in New York and he misses his little ones deeply.

This time around, Cobb makes sure that _he_ is the one that is sharing the hotel room with Ariadne and not Arthur nor anyone else.

He looks over a few blue prints that he and his architect had created the night before last. He erases a corner window, his head deciding that it should be a door instead.

He can hear the shower running in the background and he concentrates on the design and not on the sound of the water running from the bathroom.

"Shit." Cobb mutters, his pencil making unnecessary markings up the sides of the page. The door opens from his left, and it takes him about one second for his eyes to spin in the direction.

Ariadne flips her wet hair to the side, her eyes glowing as she steps out of the bathroom in nothing but a white towel that barely makes it halfway down her thighs. She blushes, shying herself away from him as she dries her hair with a small towel. "Are those the plans?" She inquires, her bare feet dragging themselves towards him and the desk.

He clears his throat, his pupils distracting themselves by burning upon the pieces of paper. "Yes, they are," he states, his heart accelerating as she leans over his shoulder, smiling.

"I like the new door you put in." She points to it, her bare shoulder almost hitting his warm cheek. The sweet smell of cinnamon intoxicating him.

"Y-yes. Well, I thought that maybe it would-" he pauses, his eyes locking with her brown ones for a few brief seconds before he continues "It w-would-" He takes a deep breath in, standing up as he says softly "I should take a shower too."

"I left the body wash for you." She smiles "It's cinnamon."

He nods at the obvious fact, turning towards the bathroom and trying to erase the memory of him forgetting his words at Ariadne's half-naked figure.

7.

The current job they have lined up is a bit trickier since their Mark is a soldier for the US Army, currently stationed in Afghanistan. They had a few more weeks before his return to the States and this gave the team the perfect amount of time to be able to practice.

Cobb finds himself, one night, working late on a few different designs as Ariadne tests out the dream level. She is sleeping near him on that very familiar lawn chair and she looks adorable as she smiles at her accomplishments, at least that is what he assumes she is smiling about.

He decides to share this dream with her. It is wise for him to know the plans of the level just in case something beyond his control went incredibly wrong. He hooks himself to the PASSIV device, his eyes closing seconds later.

He finds himself in the middle of a hotel hallway that is painted white with gold streaks. The most peculiar part of the design is that there is only one door in the entire length of the hall. He swallows hard at the comprehension that she is not building the dream realm she is supposed to be.

He turns the doorknob, curiously and peers inside the room.

"There you are." Ariadne's soft voice ushers, as she holds a Champaign glass in her right hand. "I've been waiting." She smiles sweetly at him, placing her full glass on the night table near the large, white bed.

Ariadne shifts, her white skin striking difference from her short, flowing dress slip as she speaks eagerly "Too patiently, I think." She chuckles, his eyes narrowing from shell shock.

She walks up towards him, her hands falling on his chest as she perches herself upon her tiptoes to kiss him. His eyebrows cock upward at the greeting, his eyes remaining wide open as she continued to kiss him. Did she think that he was a projection? Did she always do these things with his projection? What else did she do when no one was-?

A million questions electrified off his body and so, it was only natural for Ariadne to ask one herself. "Is something the matter?"

He half-smirked, his mind telling him not to utter exactly what he did "Nothing." He shook his head, faking a smile as he held her warm body in his arms while ushering tenderly "I missed you- that's all." He had to pretend like he was his projection, reacting like only her mind would react.

A large beam smeared across her mouth as she caught her breath and tangled her hands around his neck. "Okay."

Her eyes rolled down to his _neck_, curiously but then she laughed, her eyes closing as she spoke "You have no idea how long I've waited for you."

She kissed him again, this time more passionately. And he responded, his tongue falling only minutes later between her bare thighs. It was only because she thought that he was a projection. That was the only reason he was doing this. Everything else, he would forget soon after he would awaken.

8.

"Shit!" He roared, his fist hitting the wall in the abandoned warehouse. "You cannot bail on me now!" He was yelling at her because she deserved it. It was the day before the job and his architect had just notified him that she would not be able to finish the design for the level.

Ariadne sighed heavily, her hands upon her hips as she shouted "Your better than I am! You can finish it all by yourself!"

He shook his head at her, picking up the print within his hands, as he countered "I cannot design 'Beach' themes like you can, Ariadne. You know that-"

"Fine." She rolled her eyes, walking towards him with a frustrated look on her face "I'll miss the meeting."

"Damn right you will." He spoke the words firmly to her as he passed her the piece of paper. The meeting was for an architectural scholarship in London, England. She was not going to abandon his team, his kids, and him- for some certificate. That was bullshit.

She scoffed as she muttered "You know what? I've changed my mind." She stopped there and marched towards the desk that Dom was gripping the edges of before continuing "You are going to do this. You can make sandy beaches just fine."

Cobb shook his head in a bitter fashion as he mumbled, "Not like you can."

"Dom, you don't need me anymore! I _need_ to go to this meeting."

"Is that what you really need?" He asked, his tenor rising heatedly.

Ariadne nodded, her mind racing as she replied, "Yes. I need to go school so that I can stop participating in all these illegal jobs." She crossed her arms across her chest as she yelled "I need to live my life in reality! I cannot live in dreams for a second longer!

"Oh really?" He bit down on his bottom lip that was flaring. He approached her quickly, a finger in her face as he spat out slowly "You won't last a day!"

"No, Cobb! That's _you_!" She screamed, her eyes turning dark. "_You_ won't last a day."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He looked down at her, his eyes clouded with a deep loathing.

She inhaled softly before saying, "Tell me something, Dom-" her top lip curled as she asked "Why do you even need me anymore? You are perfectly able to create mazes and layers all by yourself. Why do you even need me on this team anymore? Hell, why do you even need me in the same country?"

Cobb chuckled darkly, his feet stammering closer towards her frame as he pushed out through his lips "I'm doing this for you."

"For me?" She almost laughed. "Why me?"

He was so angry and so full of rage that he let it slip "So that you won't dream me _fucking_ you anymore!"

Ariadne stared at him for a few moments in silence. She nodded her head once, holding in her tears as she whispered, "I have to go."

She turned her body towards the desk, picking up her book bag into her arms before she glanced at Dom Cobb for a brief moment.

She chuckled through her tears, staring him dead in the eyes "Oh before I forget, for future references-" she paused, pointing to his neck with her spare hand before saying coldly "_Projection_ Cobb wears a silver maze necklace around his neck. I knew it was you!" She walked away from him, her tennis shoes scuffing the ceramic floors beneath her.

"Wait a minute." Dom yelled, following her quickly before pulling her by the arm backward. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

"Why the hell should I have?" She stared at him in his blue eyes, her body frozen as she spoke "You seemed to forget that it happened."

"What the hell was I supposed to do? Bring it up like it was a normal conversation?" He replied, his loud tone steady.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she said in a faint timbre "Yes." She moved away from his frame, "I have to go."

"No, you don't." He pulled her back to him, her book bag falling out her arms as his pupils glared down at her. "You're staying _here_, in LA. Do you understand?"

Her eyes widened with hatred, "You cannot force me to do anything!"

"Yes I can!" His tone was once again rising as he held onto her wrists.

She struggled against him as she screamed, "You can't do this! You can't-" and before she could finish her plea, his lips were on top of hers, kissing her hungrily.

He tightened his grip upon her hands as he pushed her towards the wall, that he had recently punched, slamming her petite body against it. She ripped her lips away from him, a tiny cut forming on her bottom one as she said, "I still have to go."

Dom Cobb pushed his body onto hers, his hands falling in between her thighs over her jeans. He didn't say anything to her. He just found himself kissing her again. This time his lips nipped at her earlobe and his fingers found the button of her pants.

"You have to promise me something, Dom." She stated, his attention catching her brown eyes as he listened to her request "You will never forget again. Okay?"

"Only if you forget about London." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. He could tell they had a deal.

They made love upon the desk, forgetting all about the design and the meeting.

And in between their sessions, he held her close to her and whispered "And just for future references-" his tone mocked hers as he continued "I have been waiting a long time for you too." And he had been, he just hadn't been able to admit it to himself.

_Authors Note:_

_I hope you all enjoyed it. _

_Oscar ranting…. WTF Academy? No Leo and no Nolan? That is ridiculous. _

_Anyway, please review. _

_Take care! _


End file.
